The invention relates to an arrangement for supporting a shell into the barrel of a breech-loading weapon, the arrangement comprising a support member to be fastened to a shell tail, the support member comprising a support element provided with a rim flange and means for fastening the support element to the shell tail, and a firing member in the support element for firing the actual primer of the shell for firing the shell.
The invention further relates to a support member to be fastened to a shell tail for supporting a shell into the barrel of a breech-loading weapon, comprising a support element provided with a rim flange and means for fastening the support element to the shell tail, and a firing member in the support element for firing the actual primer of the shell for firing the shell.
Mortars are nowadays mounted on movable bases, allowing them to be moved from one place to another and, on the other hand, allowing them to be rapidly moved from the emplacement. A problem in such solutions is the ability of said base, i.e. vehicle, to defend itself against possible attacks, and the use thereof for destroying close-range targets on the ground. A moving base provided with a heavy shell mortar is normally unable to carry heavy defensive facilities in addition to the shell mortar, instead, it is at most provided with a heavy machine gun or corresponding lighter armature. In such a situation, the vehicle needs to be able to use the mortar for also firing horizontally or below it, for which normal shells and shell mortars are not suited. A shell inside a normal mortar having a smooth barrel is able to move when the shell mortar is oriented in the horizontal direction or below it in the barrel in such a manner that it either falls from the barrel or moves to such an extent that the shell does not go off. This problem is solved in the solution of U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,080, disclosing a support member/control piece to be fastened to the tail of a conventional shell by means of a friction-based clip bond. However, such a friction-based bond is not as such very dependable and the tolerances of both the manufacture of the shell and the manufacture of the control piece cause variations in the fastening force and the stability.
WO application FI 98/00064 presents a solution, wherein a control piece is fastened to the tail of a conventional shell by means of a mechanical locking, wherein the locking piece breaks in connection with firing. In this solution, the fastening piece between the shell and the control piece has to be replaced with a new one after the shell has been fired.